Had a stick in my old 82 F150. loved it. Now my left knee says no more on the stick, gotta go with the slush box.

 

Yeah, well now ford says no more on the stick too...

Whole reason the 97 wasn't traded in on the new body style is the lack of a 4.6L five speed.

Adrianspeeder

 

Except for my very 1st car I've been driving a manual until this truck. I drove 18 wheelers for many years and all my cars and pick ups had a manual. At 49 its a PITA to shift gears anymore. Stop and go traffic, holding the clutch on a hill etc. I said hell with it! Next thing you know I'll be driving a Buick!

 

Exact same reason my 97 will probably never be traded. That and the fact that I dont like the rear view of the new ones.

 

Manuals have there place, but the mazda 5 speed sucks. Wouldn't have a stang without a manual. But with an auto I can pull my boat out of the water with a coffee in one hand a donut in the other while tuning the radio. Just depends on how you use your truck.
One plus for a manual is that when relatives want to borrow your truck and find out it is a manual they usually change their mind.

 

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I believe the M5OD is a great tranny, besides the whole rubber plugs that leak causing bearings to fry due to low fluid levels and crap. It is a very smooth shifting tranny, in my opinion, and just falls into gears. Ford's slave cylinders sucked, wearing out and leaking eventually, stranding you in a random place. I had to keep a bottle of brake fluid in my truck and fill the reservoir every time i drove it or after i let it sit for a day. But the tranny itself is strong and well built.

I started with an automatic f150 and always wanted to learn a stick. I then bought a ranger with the M5OD 5 speed for several reasons. Better gas mileage, easier to work on, lighter weight, a little more practical for daily driving, and so on. I wish my f150 was a manual now because the difference in acceleration alone is dramatic. The auto tranny feels sluggish and shifts kinda hard, doesn't come out of overdrive easily, and just isn't right. When i go back to driving an auto i miss having that third pedal under my left foot. I've even been known to use the brake as a clutch several times....

I'll take a stick anyday. As said before, there is a feeling of much more control, better acceleration, and the ability to choose gears is a great feeling. It's the same with hubs, autos aren't as dependable as manuals, in my opinion. Besides, with a decent sounding exhaust a stick just sounds soooooo much better. You know what i mean.

 

Keep in mind there are two M5ODs. The M5OD-R1 is/was used in the Ranger, Explorer, Aerostar, B-2000, and Navajo. The M5OD-R2 is a beefier unit that was used in the Bronco and F150 behind the 300I6, 302V8, 4.2LV6, and 4.6LV8. My favorite tranny, and what is your experience that "it sucks"?

Adrianspeeder

 

The M5OD is too weak to be put behind a 5000 lbs truck with any torque. Why didn't ford offer it behind the 5.4?

JMC

 

I used to have an 82 chev short bed manual. I gotta say i could beat the crap outta that transmission and it just took it, along with the fact that its funner off road. But when you are stuck in city traffic after a 9 hour day for a hour pressing on that stiff clutch and shifting gears every 2 freaking seconds. I sadly had to go to an automatic. I love the manual but for that fact that i hate shifting when im tired and its easier for my gilfriend to sit right next to me comfortably...a major plus...I made the wise, yet sad decision to go auto.

Oh yeah now i have overdrive and can hit much higher speeds with confidence(not having to stretch my engine).

But someday i would love to have a mint condition '87 chev 3/4 ton with a 73-80 front end. 87 being the year with the first gm truck fuel injection (
throttle body).....ok now im just rambling on....

I think most people know where im coming from when i say auto is the way to go.

 

You can not get a v/8 and a Standard trans in a F-150, Okay Ford, not a lot of Mom's and yuppy guy's want or know how to drive a standard, up sell to a expensive automatic that robs power and consumes more flue and add's wear and tear on your truck.

Automatics have a advantage in towing and off road 4x4 are more user friendly, but still suck for a guy who grew up shifting gears and on ocassion, invented a extra gear in a 4sp trans.

A person driving a standard trans has more control over the car/truck providing that person knows when to shift up/down in relation to the engine RPM's and road conditions.

Sorry Ford, the next replacment for the 04 F-150 is going to be a 1/2 ton pick up with a v/8 and a six speed manual...I'm not getting conned into a F-250 for the privilage of paying extra to get a 6 manual trans.

And that truck will be.................................A dodge Ram

 

If it were in a ranger, the mazda 5 speed would be alright. It just seems that the sycros are to slow and the throws are to long to speed shift. And like was stated earlier it was never offered behind the 5.4. I like shifting gears, don't get me wrong, but when you are pulling campers and boats with a truck, a granny gear would be helpfull.

The mazda is a compromize between a car tranny and a real truck tranny.
Seriously, look at the tow rating of an f-150 stick versuses their autos.
My old lady's Explorer is rated for more than my stick 150.

If it were a stronger manual I would be fine with it.

These are just my opinions, not trying to tick anyone off.
Was just in the lightning forum..... those guys are brutal.

 

the m5od is fairly strong, I used to regular tow with mine without any problems. My old truck was lifted, had a 300 I6 33's and 3.08's in the diffs. Only time i had tranny problems was when the tranny was floating in water from me getting stuck in water over my hood. Even then it was just the synchro's that had to be replaced. I've towed the same crap left and right that my friends dad has towed with his 5.4 auto. I personally love the way the 4.6 and 5 speed are mated together with how they make their power. I definatly do prefer driving a stick to an auto I just don't like the way auto's drive

 

I also have to say that M5OD seems to be a good manual tranny. My 2003 Ranger 4X4 has this tranny and it has always shifted fine. And, at least with the newer trucks, the clutch is not the least bit stiff - it is very easy to use even with a sprained ankle like I drove it for over a month.

In traffic, the clutch is so light that it doesn't matter that much, especially once that ankle got better. And the manual tranny really livens up the 4.0 SOHC V-6 engine. The little truck gets good gas mileage - never been less than 18 mpg no matter how it was driven. My last Ranger with 4.0 and 4X4 was closer to 15 mpg overall with automatic tranny.

I have always liked shifting my own gears and this particular engine/tranny combo makes it considerably more fun than a pain, even in traffic. My only complaint on this tranny is the too long one/two shift. Otherwise, she shifts like a breeze.

 

I would prefer a stick but I recently traded in my '98 5-speed for an F150 with an auto.

If the truck is stock, the M5OD should hold up pretty good. If you are a mellow driver the transmission should perform well. If you mod the truck and/or are planning on trying to get it moving fast, it may not perform the way you want it to.

My '98 had the 4.6. I bolted on a supercharger on there and the transmission began to show its shortcomings. The motor would wind up fast but the syncros wouldn't allow it to shift quickly. I also ended up replacing the clutch with less than 40k. Too much torque.

The truck I have now has the 5.4 and isn't offered with a manual. This truck is, from the factory, built to go fast. I'm not always pleased with the way the auto selects the gears but it'll get out of it's own way regardless.

Good luck, and watch out for thoes guys eating worms while driving an automatic. I hear that eating worms can be quite a distraction. :santa: